


Frigid Blossom, Warm Hearts

by Garchomp445



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Fluff, Snow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-08
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-10 20:59:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12307695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Garchomp445/pseuds/Garchomp445
Summary: Elise and Sakura try to have a beautiful morning in northern Hoshido together, but trouble finds them sooner, rather than later. They get caught up in a sinister plot where they can only trust each other!Written for Elisaku Week 2017. This will be a continuous story using all thirteen prompts into one narrative, released over the course of the week.Day One: Dusk/DawnDay Two: Time/HopeDay Three: Sweet/BitterDay Four: Renewal/InspirationDay Five: Warmth/FrostDay Six: Festival/RoutineDay Seven: Free!





	1. Dusk/Dawn

**Author's Note:**

> Why do something easy and simple when you can do something hard and complex?! This'll be like the first time I write something that I've actually fully plotted out beforehand! Gasp! Hope you have fun with it!

The sun lowers into the snow, sending orange light streaking across the pristine field. Elise laughs, and squeezes Sakura tighter. She says,

“Heehee, it’s the same colour your cheeks get when you blush!” Sakura blushes red, then bites her lip, and says, a smile growing on her face,

“Hey, you already said that!”

Elise grins, “Yup! I said that this morning, right before we started on that wacky adventure.”

Sakura winces, “I don’t know if ‘adventure’ is the right word for it…”

“Well, it all worked out in the end, right?” Elise looks Sakura in the eye, “You were amazing the whole time!”

Sakura practically melts into Elise’s arms, and averts her gaze. She stutters, “Th-thanks, you were great too!” She sighs, “But it really was a special morning until that villager showed up.”

“Aw! She wasn’t all bad!”

Sakura wrinkles her brow, “She wasn’t all good, either…”

 

\--

 

The sun’s rays peer over the ice, sending orange beams crawling through the dark dawn skies. Elise laughs, then says,

“Ooh, it’s just like you!”

Sakura starts, jostling Elise as she pulls away from their embrace, “What? What’s like me?”

“The sky! It’s blushing!”

Sakura blushes, and Elise laughs softly, taking Sakura back into a close embrace. Sakura mumbles, “Do I really blush that often?”

“Yup! It’s really cute!” Sakura lets out a soft groan, but relaxes into Elise’s arms. They watch the slowly rising sun, its light just barely visible on the snow and the tops of trees. It glistens through the highest icicles, now shimmering orange cones. Sakura hums,

“I’m so glad that I got to show you this. The winter sunrise is always beautiful.”

Elise giggles, “I only managed to get up in time ‘cause I told Effie to wake me up!”

Sakura stares into the snow, “Oh, Hana actually had to wake me up, too.” She smiles, “She was so worried that we’d be going off by ourselves, she made me bring a Hankyu and a scroll.”

“Haha!” Elise pulls a dagger out of her coat, Sakura flinches, “Effie made me take a few knives, and a tome, too! That’s super funny!” She puts the dagger away, and Sakura turns around with a concerned look on her face,

“Isn’t it dangerous to throw knives around? It always seems like you’ll end up cutting yourself.”

“Yeah, I don’t think it’s the SAFEST, but I was trained by some of the best!” Elise pumps a fist into the air, “I’ll prove their skills right!”

Sakura laughs, “That’s good to know!” She sits back down on their wool mat, “I don’t think we’re going to have to use those skills today.”

Elise smirks, “You’re saying that you,” she raises her voice, “DON’T want to spar in the snow?”

Sakura gasps, “Not with real weapons! We’d get so dirty, too…”

Elise ruffles Sakura’s hair under her woolen cap, “Heehee, I’m just messing with ya!” She pulls Sakura close, “Just hanging out with you is exciting enough!”

“Oh…” Sakura smiles, and they go back to watching the sunrise. The sound of someone tromping through the snow reaches them, and Elise turns her head away. It’s a local villager just covered in cloaks, blankets, and a knit cap. The villager calls out, her voice laced with urgency,

“Are you princess Sakura!?” She waves her hands, “I need help!”

Elise calls, “Yeah, Sakura’s here!” She slowly releases her grip on Sakura, who jolts up immediately. Sakura shouts,

“Was someone hurt?! We’re both healers!”

The woman runs the rest of the distance, then kneels on the ground and bursts into tears, “No, I wish it were that simple! My store was destroyed by a bandit!”

Sakura’s gaze shifts from the villager to Elise, and her eyes are already watering. Elise puts a hand out for the villager, “It’ll be okay! We’ll help you any way we can!”

“Oh, thank the heavens! Please, I’ll show you to my store!”

Sakura makes sure to pack up their blanket, and they set off after the woman with all the haste they possess.


	2. Time/Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Future Elise and Sakura have lots of time on their hands compared to what they went through previously. Back in the past, they investigate the villager's ruined store, and Elise finds hope in even that broken shop!

Elise scoffs, “The villager turned out to be the least of our problems, anyway!” She grins, “It was mostly trudging through the knee-deep snow.”

Sakura laughs, a sweet, tiny sound, “You always  _ hop _ through the snow! I’m sure that’s much more exhausting than trudging!”

“But it’s more fun! And we’ve got plenty of time for fun now that we aren’t running all over town!”

Sakura hums softly, and Elise moves to her side. The sun is nearing the treeline, but it isn’t quite dark yet. Elise says,

“Y’know, I never really expected to encounter that kind of person over in Hoshido.” Sakura glances over, “We’d hear tales of how prosperous and rich your country was, how you didn’t deserve anything you had, but there’s plenty of suffering here, too.”

Sakura lets out a huff, “Well, there’s reasons for that! It’s always the result of greedy people given too much power.”

Elise opens her mouth, “Oh! You said that when you gave your speech, too!” she grins, “Did you get that line from a book, or something?”

Sakura scowls, squinching her face together, “No! I kinda,” She goes back to a neutral expression, “I guess I paraphrased it?” She sighs, “I thought I made it up…”

“You’re still really smart! I’m sure you’ll write something,” Elise throws her hands in the air, “Even  _ better _ than what they wrote!”

Sakura laughs, “Thanks.” She pauses for a minute, “I think I know better than ever how to help people.”

  
  


\--

 

The villager’s store has been destroyed, just like she said. There are shelves crushed and knocked over, paper littering the ground, and just one broken pot in the middle. She immediately bawls, saying,

“It’s horrible! I’ve been ruined!”

Sakura is at her side, comforting her with various platitudes, and Elise is picking through the wreckage. A lot, like, most of it, is just crumpled-up paper. Some of it is painted to look like pots or pans, which Elise finds amusing, but she stifles her laughter. Sakura says,

“Is there anything we can do to help, ma’am?”

“Oh, if only you could replace all that was lost! I can only accept money now!”

“Of course, how much do you need!”

The villager swoons, nearly falling to the ground, “How could I possibly repay you! Only ten thousand gold pieces,” She clasps her hands together, “But I can offer you ANY of my goods once I re-open here!”

Elise nods, “Do you know where the bandit came from?” She puts her hands together, “We need to track them down if they’re this dangerous!”

The woman seems to smile for a second, then hides her face, “I think I recall one of them saying the name ‘Ricardo Gomez’! They must have been one of the travelling merchants!” She motions to Sakura, “Please, do you have any coin?!”

Sakura nods, shaking slightly, “Of course, of course!” she empties her coin purse. The woman is aggressively leaning over Sakura, so Elise rushes over just before her next bout of very predictable hysterics starts, and pulls Sakura away. She says,

“You’re very welcome, ma’am! I know you can get up on your feet soon!”

“That’s so very kind!” She wipes a tear from her eye, “Will you be setting off to find the criminals soon?”

Elise tenses up, “Yeah, sure! Where did you say they were?”

The woman stops tearing up, “By the bridge at the south of the river, it’s a camp of nomads. I heard the name ‘Ricardo Gomez’.” She points to the door, “There’s no time to waste! They could leave any minute!”

Elise states, “All right! We’re on it!”

Sakura says, “Are you sure you’ll be okay on your own?!”

“Oh yes! Please, go and dispense justice!” The woman shouts. Sakura seems to jump, sputtering apologies, and rushes Elise to the door. The air outside is chill, but gradually warming in the morning sun. Elise says,

“She was kinda rude, Sakura! Did you see her nearly pounce on you?”

Sakura gasps, “I’m sure she was just upset from the robbery! It sounded like it had  _ just _ happened!”

Elise winces, “Yeah, sorry!”

They tromp through the snow towards the river, along with the early morning traffic. It’s a fairly large town, consisting of several hundred houses and other public buildings, but the river is off to one side, and has only one bridge. A few people are out with shovels, but most are content to use the snowshoes that Elise is really wishing they’d thought to bring. Elise says,

“Say, whaddya think she sold at her store?”

Sakura starts, “Oh, we didn’t even think to ask that!” She turns to look at Elise, “Did you see anything you liked?”

Elise laughs, “Yeah! There were these cute novelty pots and pans made out of paper, painted to look real! It was kinda cool!”

Sakura furrows her brow, “There were?”

Elise nods, “You kinda had to look at them in a certain way, but yeah!” she smiles, “I hope we can come back once she starts back up!”

Sakura smiles, and steps over to hold Elise’s hand. She says, “We should do this more often.”

“What, go on dates, or stop criminals?” Elise smirks, swinging their hands in an arc. Sakura nods solemnly,

“Both!”

Elise gasps, “We could be vigilantes!” She grandly displays her other hand, “With our combat expertise, and love in our hearts, we can crush the darkness in their souls!”

Sakura stutters, “M-metaphorically, right?!”

“Yeah! Probably!” Elise puts her hand on her hips, “I mean, Odin’s always really serious about that kinda stuff, so maybe?”

“Could we be like your retainer, Arthur, instead? Doesn’t he like helping people?”

Elise laughs, “That’s true! We could probably avoid tripping and falling into rivers as much, though!”

“Aw! He can’t help it!” Sakura glances over to Elise, eyes wide, “Besides, we’re nearly at the river, you don’t want to jinx it and fall in.”

Elise smiles, then cuddles up next to Sakura, “I’ll make sure to hang on tight!”

Sakura’s face reddens, and Elise decides to lay off the teasing for now. She’s awfully cute, but the camp is just ahead, and they’ll probably need to be serious for this.


	3. Sweet/Bitter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A confrontation in the nomad's camp!

Elise snuggles up to Sakura, who wraps her arms around Elise from behind. It feels wonderful being surrounded by her strong, lithe arms, and she sighs contentedly. It’s getting colder, but Sakura made sure to bring way more clothes than they’d need, which, Elise laughs at, is probably why they’re carrying so many weapons! Sakura makes a questioning hum, and Elise snickers,

“I was just thinking that you’re the reason we’re carrying so many weapons!”

Sakura jolts up, “What?!”

“Yeah! You got the coats together, and Hana hid weapons in all of them!” Elise sits up on Sakura’s lap, then undoes a coat, letting some cool air rush in. She pulls out a small bow and a quiver, and says,

“See? She hid a ‘Hankyu’ in this one!”

“Oh, that’s actually a tankyu! It’s a bit shorter than the one I was using.”

Elise turns around, “Huh? Is it a special bow?”

“No, sorry, they’re both just small yumi.” Sakura takes the yumi and draws it back, but it creaks loudly in the frigid air. She quickly shoves it back into Elise’s cloak, who stifles a giggle. She starts buttoning her coat back up, “Make sure you both stay warm!”

Elise smiles, “Oh, I just remembered! I took some candy from the party!” she reaches into a pocket, and draws out two small hard candies wrapped in wax paper. Sakura opens her mouth slightly, and Elise giggles, “Did you want some?”

“Yes!” Sakura immediately pops it into her mouth. Elise sits back down onto Sakura lap, and relaxes into her shoulder, gaze up at the setting sun. She feels Sakura’s bare hands massaging her scalp under her hat, and sighs contentedly. Sakura says,

“Another thing I wish we could undo is how we treated the nomad tribe. They face racism and oppression everywhere they go, and we definitely contributed.”

Elise moans, “Aw, don’t be so hard on yourself, Sakura!”

“I’m not being hard on myself!” Sakura lets out a huff, “There are lots of racial issues, and we should be more conscious of them.”

“You’re right.” Elise smiles, “Maybe we can meet them again someday?”

“That sounds nice.”

 

\--

 

Across the river, the nomad’s caravan consists of several wagons, and a half-dozen horses and oxen. The wagons are just brown wood planks, but they’re carved into geometric patterns, and have coloured canvas stretched from cart to cart. Sakura grumbles,

“I doubt they’re all criminals. We’re just looking for ‘Ricardo Gomez’, so we’ll go in, get him, then get out.”

Elise scrunches her face up, “I dunno, this seems kinda… wrong.”

They reach the other side of the bridge, and Sakura gives her a thin smile, “Didn’t you want to try vigilante work?” She stares at the ground, “I don’t think I’d be brave enough to do this without you.”

Elise hugs Sakura, “All right! Let’s go arrest someone!” If Sakura thinks it’s okay, then it must be good. Elise bounces on her feet as they round the first wagon into the camp proper.  There are four wagons in a loose semicircle, the canvas nearly forming a tent over the neat camp. The animals are tied to the far wagon, and have two blue-and-orange striped sheets stretched over them. There are a few crates and chests out, but the only fire-pit is just cool, black charcoal. A crate shifts at the back of the pile, and a gangly, dark-skinned child leaps out, then runs into one of the carts. Sakura gasps, Elise smiles, then shouts,

“Hi! Is anyone home!”

There’s a bit of chatter from the cart, and a stout woman steps out and onto the ground. She announces in an affected accent, smile on her face, “Why! Aren’t you two precious! They were right about your coats!”

Sakura blushes, Elise laughs, “Aw, thanks!” She nudges a shoulder to Sakura, “She picked them out for us! Oh, and your carts are gorgeous!”

The woman puts a hand to her chin, “A pair of absolute charmers, you are! What did you say you were here for?”

Sakura sputters, “Uh, w-we were looking for someone named ‘Ricardo Gomez’?”

The woman loses the grin, and nods, “You’re Hoshidans, then?”

“Y-yes?”

“I figured someone would come looking for him.”

Elise narrows her eyes, “So he’s been causing trouble around here, too!?”

“Of course not. He’s my son.” She turns around, shouts, “Ricardo! Come out here!”

From one of the other carts, a long-armed teenager clambers out. He says, in the same, thick accent as his mom, “What? Do you need something?” He looks over to Sakura and Elise and smiles, “Ah! Hello! Ma, were we expecting visitors?”

The woman pans back over to Elise and Sakura, practically glowering, then says, “Say, you two, what sort of ‘trouble’ was Ricardo involved in?”

Sakura says, “Well, he broke into a store and smashed up a villager’s livelihood! We saw the wreckage for ourselves!”

Ricardo buries his face in his hands, then moans, “Aw, you were right, ma!”

“That I was! Now, tell them the truth!”

“Yeah!”

He shakes his head, “No, no, it wasn’t like that! That ‘shopkeeper’ paid me to mess up her place!” He windmills a hand, “Uh, I thought it was just easy money, but she played us somethin’ bad!”

Elise puts a hand up to her mouth, it wasn’t like this never happens. Considering the camouflaged pots and pans, very little actual merchandise broken, and general oddness, that could be true. Sakura shouts,

“What! She was in tears! She had nothing left!” Sakura’s head juts forward, “That’s ridiculous!”

Elise takes a step back, and mumbles some comforting platitudes. Ricardo winces and steps away, his mom puts her hands on her hips and says,

“Now, don’t say anything you’ll regret-”

Sakura interrupts, “I don’t think I’ll regret nabbing a criminal!” she holds her head high, but she swiftly retreats into herself as Ricardo’s mom glowers down at her, and shouts,

“You come into our camp, and call us criminals? Do you even know what you’re talking about?!” Sakura stares into the dirt, her shoulders shaking, “No! I reckon you’ve never met a conniving, manipulative fellow quite like her!”

Her gaze softens, and she says, “Now, I figure that you two are just trying to do a good thing, but don’t tear us down over someone else’s lies!”

Sakura wipes a glove over her eyes, then stutters, “W-well, how can I assume that  _ you _ aren’t lying!” She leers up at the woman, “If we can’t arrest you, I’m sure… someone else…” Sakura trails off, and turns away from the woman, who now stands frozen, a grimace fixed on her face.

Elise shouts, “I’m sorry! That’d be horrible, right?!” She lets out a few hollow laughs. The child from before is peering from around the side of the wagon, and other nomads are looking on from windows and doorways. Sakura is hugging herself, and mumbling intensely. Elise can’t tell if it’s with regret, or still anger, but they’re all tensed and on edge. Ricardo steps forwards,

“Look, how about we go back to the store, and you can ask the owner?” He gulps, “If she’s there, you can turn me in, but if she isn’t, we can talk more.”

His mom gapes and glares at him, but she keeps quiet. Sakura starts mumbling apologies, so Elise says,

“Sure! I don’t think we’ll need to turn you in, but that’s a good idea!”

His mom says,

“Ricardo-!”

“I know, but I think this’ll work.” He gives his mom a smile, and pecks her on the cheek. She shakes her head, and says,

“Be home before dark.”

Elise hears Sakura mumbling something, so she steps over and says, “Hey, Sakura, are you okay?”

She takes a breath, then whispers, “You’re sure we can trust them?” Sakura wrings her hands together, and Elise catches them. She says,

“Sakura, are you saying that nothing about that shopkeeper was even a  _ little _ suspicious?”

Sakura’s eyes start to water, so Elise begins to guide her out of the camp. She says,

“All right, sorry about all that! Ricardo’ll be back soon!”

He waves goodbye, Elise and Sakura shuffle over to the bridge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, writing good characters doing bad things is hard. D:  
> As you could figure, 'Ricardo Gomez' is a spanish name, a people who face a startlingly large amount of racism in the US. Nomads, especially the romani people, have faced persecution and racism throughout all of history, and I doubt hoshido would have zero problems in that regard.


	4. Renewal/Inspiration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While future Elise and Sakura have a fun snowball fight, back in the main story, they nearly lose all hope in that villager's shop.

“Don’t you think we’ve been a bit too serious today?” Elise leans her head back and smiles at Sakura, who raises her eyebrows. She says,

“It’s been a pretty serious day,” Elise leans down to get a pile of snow, “And we’ve dealt with a lot of real societal issues.” Elise stealthily gets out of Sakura’s lap, who is nodding with her eyes closed, “I think we’ve both learned a lot, what do you think you learned today?”

Elise laughs, “Hm, I learned that we have to have fun! Right now!” Elise lobs a snowball at Sakura, who flinches and says,

“What! That’s so cold!” Elise runs just a few feet away,  bends down to pick up more snow, and a large clump of snow smacks into her side. Sakura shouts,

“HA!”  
Elise giggles, but Sakura’s aim is really good, and she’s pretty quickly covered in snow. Elise runs around their blanket, throwing snowballs back, but she feels two more heavy thuds against her coat. Every time she tries to see where Sakura is, she gets a face full of snow, and lets out a yelp each time. Elise falls to the ground, laughing to herself. She hears a muffled,

“Elise?!” Sakura runs over, “Are you okay?”

Elise smirks, “No, I’m dead! You killed me with snowballs!”

Sakura crouches down to brush the snow off, and reiterates, “You are okay, right?”

“Oh yeah, I just bruised my ego. Did you train for snowball fights?”

Sakura laughs, “That would be a fun way to train!” She nods, “I’ll suggest it to Ryouma.” Elise scoops up a bunch of snow and dumps its on Sakura’s head, cackling,

“Haha! I win!” Sakura looks stunned, “Did you expect your  _ girlfriend _ to betray you?!”

Elise reaches up to brush the snow off, and besides that last clump of snow, she’s been untouched, which only makes Elise less sorry for her. Sakura sputters,

“No! We practically never play on opposite teams!”

Elise nods, “Yup! You’re too good!” she lunges over to hug Sakura, “I would never want to be apart from you!”

Sakura squeezes her tightly, and hums loudly, “Ah, but you’re totally okay with casual betrayal. I’m not going to let you go, either!”

“Oh no! Whatever shall I do!” Elise laughs, and pretends to try to free her arms. Sakura’s a heater, gradually spreading through her whole body, and Elise relaxes into her arms. Sakura says,

“Can we stand and go back to the blanket?”

“Nope! It’s hopeless! You’re stuck with me!”

“Oh, okay.” Sakura lets out a huff, “Kind of like earlier today.”

Elise nearly breaks out of the hug, “Huh?”

“We were kinda stuck in a rut, but you were there to get me out of it.”

Elise giggles, “Aw, thanks!”

“No, thank you.”

 

\--

 

Elise says, “Bye bye!” Ricardo waves, and shuts the door behind him. Elise puts away her coin purse, not even noticeably lighter, but hopefully enough to make up for the trouble. Sakura is sitting in the corner, not even trying to look any less than despondent. She sighs, and Elise laughs,

“Sakura, we could just go back out to our spot in the snow! We could watch the sunset, too!”

“Mhm.”

Elise searches through the trash to find cool bits of paper, but there aren’t as many as she expected. There’s only one disguised as a broken saucepan, there’s several disguised clay pots, but nothing too elaborate. Oh, there’s a very convincing paper lantern, Elise lightly smacks herself in the face, since those are  _ already _ made out of paper. She collects the fake pots and balances the paper on her arms and head, then states,

“Sakura! I’m a porcelain doll!” One paper immediately falls off of her, and Sakura nods, but doesn’t say anything else. Elise lets the papers fall to the ground, and goes to the back of the store. The shopkeeper could’ve left something to cheer Sakura’s spirits!

There’s a small, temporary kitchen, mostly just different wooden buckets, but there’s still the faint smell of fried chicken, and lots of scrap paper. And there’s lots of stuff Elise can do with paper, least of all make more papier-mâché facsimiles of functional pots and pans. She gathers it all up and rushes back to the sunnier front of the store. Sakura smiles, then says,

“I’m sorry for being glum, Elise.”

Elise smiles back, “I understand! You sorta just got robbed, has that ever happened before?”

“No. Not like  _ this _ , at least!”

“She was a  _ pretty _ good actress!” Elise sits down next to Sakura, “Do you want to try some origami? I was reading about it earlier this week!”

Sakura giggles, “Sure! What did you read?”

“Uh, there was this one,” Elise brings a piece of paper up to her face, “Like, really simple frog pattern that I  _ nearly _ memorized. Maybe this’ll jog my memory?”

“Oh! Was it one of the jumping frogs?”

“Yeah! I made like, fifteen of them!”

Sakura’s smile justifies any ridiculous length that Elise might go to see it. She looks so serene and wise, even sitting cross-legged on the ground. Elise hands her a piece of paper,

“Do you want to follow along?”

“Sure!”

Elise goes through the motions, narrating each step, “Okay, so you fold it halfway, then fold it in a twist? Right?”, but she can tell that Sakura is stealthily correcting her each time. “Oh, didn’t that go another way?”, “Does this angle look right?”. Elise smiles as her first origami frog flips into the air, then Sakura’s hops over next to it. Elise laughs,

“Haha! They’re alive! Thanks for the help, Sakura.”

Sakura grins, “Origami is a lot of fun. I could teach you how to make a paper crane, or something else.”

“Wow, you’re better than some stuffy old book!”

Elise leans back, stretching out after a long time cramped over some paper. The midday sun is passing right now, if the soft light peering through the shop’s many windows is any indication. Elise gets an idea for a rack to hold their origami frog swarm, and steps over to peck Sakura on the cheek. She smiles, and says,

“Are you going somewhere?”

“Nope! I have an idea!”

While Elise sifts through the room’s wreckage, Sakura’s reading one of the scraps of paper to herself, and mutters, “What? ‘Many Katanas’?” She glares at the paper, “Takimura-” then she jumps to her feet, “Elise! I know this family! We’ll find out what they know!”

Elise jumps too, dropping a half-dozen wooden dowels onto the ground. Sakura blinks as they clatter all across the wooden floor like really fat hailstones. Elise smiles, and says,

“Let’s get going then!”


	5. Warmth/Frost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whistling winds bound past our present and future protagonists.

The sun makes its last dip into the horizon, the orange light barely poking out over the snow, and the sky is mottled with purples and pinks. Elise states,

“Wow, I’m glad I have you here to keep me warm!”

“I’m not just your personal fireplace, Elise.” Sakura pries her arms out from under Elises’, and turns to lean against her. Elise raises an eyebrow, then says,

“Am I going to be yours?”

Sakura nods, “Yup.”

Elise laughs, “I’m okay with that! Are you getting tired?”

“Mhm. We’ve been awake for too long.” Sakura sighs, “And this cold isn’t doing us any good.”

“It’s drawing us closer together!” Elise leans into Sakura, and grabs her hand. She says,

“Elise, aren’t you tired yet? You always have infinite energy.”

“Not always! I just like being cheerful.” Elise hums, “I guess it’s kinda like how you like helping people, I like cheering them up!”

Sakura smiles, “You’re super good at that!” She turns to look Elise in the eye, “But don’t forget that you can rely on other people, too!”

Elise blushes, looks up at the sky, then smirks, “Hey, I’m already relying on your heat!”

Sakura giggles, “Do you remember us walking all the way out to the Takimura residence? I wish you could’ve warmed me up then.”

Elise raises her eyebrows, “Weren’t we practically sweating afterwards?”

“Hmm… What happened, again?”

 

\--

 

Elise lets out a purposely-loud giggle, more of a chortle from her perspective, but hopefully Sakura hears it as a giggle, then shouts, “I still can’t believe you remembered this many landmarks!”

Sakura mumbles something, but the wind whipping through the nearly-bare, snowy field drowns her out. It’s after noon, and they’ve already been trudging through the snow for what feels like an hour. Elise knows that Sakura’s leading them to the right place, but she’ll be darned if it isn’t hard work to get there. She hops towards Sakura, mostly focusing on staying inside Sakura’s bootprints, since her own clogged with snow a while ago. She hops one foot at a time, then runs smack into Sakura, crashing them both into the ground with a few shrieks. Elise shouts,

“Sorry!”

“Are you okay!”

Elise gasps, “I can hear you now!”

Sakura helps Elise back to her feet, then whispers something barely coherent. Elise laughs, “Let’s wait until the wind stops!”

Sakura nods, then points back in the direction she was travelling. Elise obediently, literally follows in her footsteps, far slower this time. It’s possible to rush stuff like travelling, somehow, even though it’s  _ sooo _ boring. Elise fiddles with one of her origami frogs, but she obviously can’t make it jump into the snow. That’s actually the reason she wanted to learn origami in the first place, to liven up long carriage rides! Camilla would  _ definitely _ get a kick out of it.

They reach a line of trees, and the wind dies down, buzzing into the branches like an angry bee. The trees are coated in frost, large pines still standing after so much snow. Sakura slows down to walk next to Elise, and says,

“Elise, did you have a question earlier? I couldn’t quite hear you.”

Elise grins, “Nope! I had a comment! You sure seem to know these trails well! It’s pretty cool!”

Sakura blushes, and hides her mouth, she says, “Elise, that’s not quite true…” She giggles, then points into the snow, “I’ve just been following these wagon tracks!”

Elise gasps, “Betrayal!”, then laughs, “How did I not see that?”

“I’ve been stepping on them, did my tracks look weird?”

“No weirder than they usually do!” Sakura gasps and looks behind her, which makes Elise giggle madly. Sakura smiles just before she puts on a manufactured serious face, then huffs and turns back around. Sakura is adorable. Elise plays along, letting out a mournful wail, and saying,

“Sakura! I’m so  _ sorry _ !” She drops to her knees, and clasps her hands under her face, “I’ll never make fun of you again!”

Sakura turns around, giggling slightly, then mumbles, “I love her so much…” she puts a hand out to Elise, “F-fine! I accept your apology! But you better, uh,” she scrunches her face together, then shakes her head, “No, I can’t, that’s too embarrassing!”

Elise hops back to her feet, “Could I make up to you however I want, then?”

“I guess?”

She leans in close to Sakura, hugs her around the waist, and says,

“I love you so much, you’re so bright and cool and cute, I’m so glad you let me be around you!” Sakura pushes her face into Elise’s shoulder, “You’re brave and smart and funny and you’re always helping other people!” Elise gently squeezes Sakura, “Thank you, so, so much.”

Sakura lets out a sob into Elise’s shoulder, then mutters, “How can you just say stuff like that?!”

Elise starts, “Oh! I forgot! And I’m sorry for saying that you have weird-shaped feet!”

Sakura breaks away from Elise to wipe her tears off, a smile stretching across her face, and sputters, “W-we should get going!”

Elise can feel her own face glowing with warmth, so she states, “Yeah!” and takes to the trail ahead of Sakura. She’s right behind her, holding her hand tight. Just before they clear the copse, Sakura stops her, and hugs her from behind. She whispers, “You’re amazing too, I love you so much.”

Elise laughs, “Thanks!”

They plunge back into the whistling winds, destination not far ahead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I think this is the shortest one yet! Oh no! And nothing plot-related happened at all! Well, the plot's really going to kick it up a notch in chapter six, so look forward to that! Now, why have all the chapters been so short so far? Simple! I had school, and like nine different tests, including a final??? this week, and I'm off this friday!
> 
> Edit: nevermind


	6. Festival/Routine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Climax

Sakura shivers, “Just thinking about that place again gives me the creeps.”

Elise squeezes her hand, “Yeah, we were pretty cool though, right?” She gazes up at the darkening sky, “We definitely did some good there.”

Sakura nods, her head bumping into Elise, “That’s true. I don’t think anyone left without a smile, thanks to you.”

Elise blushes, “What! I just acted normally! You were the one who gave an amazing speech!”

Sakura stutters, “Th-that was just me yelling! I was so angry, I just said what came to me!”

Elise coos, “Aw, I’m sorry!” She scratches her chin, “What did happen once we got separated?” Elise leans into Sakura’s back, “We met up just once, and you didn’t say what went down, or why you were  _ super _ angry!”

Sakura shakes her head, “Oh, it was horrible…”

 

\--

 

Sakura and Elise are practically panting. Sakura has removed a coat and her hat, and Elise is down to just a wool dress with very stylish boots. The Takimura estate is just as convoluted as Sakura remembers it, with too-many sloped roofs for its size, stacked on the walls and each other. She can practically feel the eyes glaring out from the eaves. The main gate is broad, and there are animal noises coming from inside. Elise scrunches up her mouth, then says,

“Sooo… Are we gonna sneak in? Should we just ask?”

Sakura sighs, “I didn’t think that far ahead.” She brings out the scraps of paper, and Elise bounds over to her shoulder, “It doesn’t really say anything about telling her to steal from us, it’s just a name and a price.” She flips it over, “And some vague threats.”

Elise brightly says, “Maybe it’s all just a big misunderstanding? How about we try the front door first? You are a princess, after all!”

“All right!” Sakura strides up to the door, and knocks on it. It’s louder over by the gate, and there’s more sounds than just the occasional moo or whinny. It almost sounds like a flute, and a couple people talking? The gate has a simple wooden handle, and when Sakura pulls on it, it’s unlocked. Elise states,

“They must’ve been expecting guests!”  
Once they cross the simple gate,the courtyard within is full of carts, wagons, all in a myriad of colours. They’re mostly made out of the thick, pine wood of northern Hoshido, but there are a few with less weather-proofed designs. Sakura looks up just to immediately notice the watchtowers perched on the walls, nearly a dozen of them encircling the courtyard at various heights and positions on the palisades. Elise shouts,

“Cool! Someone must’ve flown here!” She points towards the animal pens, “Sakura, there’s a pegasus!”

Sakura hisses, “Elise, we’re being watched! I can see people moving through the watchtowers!” she leans into Elise, and starts guiding her towards the main entrance, “Let’s just make our way to the front door.”

Elise nods and silently walks with her, already bearing pursed lips and a much stiffer walk. The entrance is a plain, polished wooden door, with similar handles to the gate. There’s shuffling on the other side, and just before they get to it, the door is swung open into a brightly lit foyer. Two people shout,

“Welcome! Hurry inside!”

One is dressed in an off-colour Nohrian maid dress, the other is dressed in typical Hoshidan wear, and a tall, conical hat. He ushers Sakura inside, while the maid seems to drag Elise away. Sakura says,

“Hey what-”

“Oh, don’t bother with her! Follow me into the main hall!” Several guards with naginata tromp down the stairs leading into the foyer, and Sakura loses sight of Elise in the shuffle. She is guided along the corridor by shoving hands, but manages to stay upright until she trips into a gaudy hall. The guards disperse, but the man from before is right next to her, helping her up and boasting about their many wares and activities. Sakura looks behind her, but she can’t even see where the door was among the patterned fabrics draped along the walls. She hides her face, and tries to look for an exit among the dozens of people, loudly hawking wares or chattering in front of the stalls. The man stops talking and walks away, but Sakura barely notices it through the noise. She walks over to a stall just to pretend to have something to do, shivering and checking every direction at once. The woman immediately shouts,

“Ah! You have a discerning eye! These crystals are-”  
Sakura interrupts, “Please, I’m sorry, but I just have a few questions.”

The woman smiles, beads in her hair bouncing into her glasses as she holds her head high, and she shouts at a ridiculous pace, “Of course! Ask away! Our medicinal crystals have a myriad of uses, from purifying temples in an instant, curing any disease, granting good luck, flavouring food, or anything else!”

Sakura stands stock still, slowly nodding, then quietly says, “Uh, is this really the Takimura estate?”

“Oh yes, miss Takimura hosts grand festivals every week! The whole town shows up most of the time, and it’s completely free!”

Sakura narrows her eyes, “Wait, aren’t you selling these?”

The woman fiddles with one of her braids, “Oh, the wares aren’t for free, just showing up is! You can even set up shop here for no cost!” she mumbles, “If you want to sacrifice half your income…” then immediately smiles again, “It’s a large convention! And if you want to survive,” she leans over her wares, “I can suggest a lucky crystal-”

The woman starts, staring at Sakura, who takes a step back, then states, “You look very familiar, young lady.”

Sakura starts backing away quickly, “Uh, do I?! What a weird coincidence! See you later!”

The shopkeeper stands straight up, “No, you’re princess Sakura of Hoshido!”

About nine different people gaze in Sakura’s direction, some in bemusement, and some with much more interest. Sakura gibbers, “Uh, no, that’s not true,”

Someone interrupts, “It is! It’s Hoshido’s youngest princess!”

Sakura sighs, and shuts her eyes for a second, during which a couple of people approach her with their respective advertisements. Sakura bares a grin and responds politely, but a few of the guards from before approach as well, their naginatas still drawn. One states,

“You are invited to the inner sanctum.” Sakura’s hands are shaking, and she spies more guards filtering in, armed similarly. She complies, walking after the guard, through an unmarked wall of cloth, and down a darkened section of hallway. Only dim lanterns, lit in the far eaves, offer illumination, but after a few moments she’s guided past another cloth door, and into a bright, gaudy room. It’s small, square, and has three separate stairways leading into darkened hallways above and below this pillow-stuffed room. A stateswoman perched atop a pillow, glaring at the guards with her ex-conversant, states,

“Why have you interrupted my meeting with this small child?”

The guards fidget, and one says, “This child is princess Sakura. Of Hoshido.”

The noble, wrapped in silks and a warm, furred cloak, bares her teeth, and says,

“Ah, how pleasant of princess Sakura to come all the way to my residence for a visit. You three are dismissed.” Sakura squares her shoulders as she walks further into the room, and notices two more guards right behind her pillow, glaring her down. The noble says,

“I am so sorry for the chill reception, my dear, but I do not believe we were informed of your visit?”

Sakura nods, “Oh, no, I was investigating this area,” The noble raises an eyebrow, “and I need to ask you some questions,” Sakura stutters, “and especially where my girlfriend is! She disappeared as soon as we entered your castle!”

Sakura holds her hands together, and tries to glare as much as she can. The noble lets out a hum, “Well, this is a dangerous, confusing place! She must have gotten lost. I will send a guard or two to help you search.”

“Thank you.” Sakura bows.

“Now, you had other questions.”

Sakura starts, “Right!” she digs into her pocket to retrieve the piece of paper, and holds it outstretched. She stutters, “W-we ran into a con artist, and they had this!”

The noble slowly blinks, then takes the paper, looks at it once, then hands it back. She states,

“So what? That’s how I keep track of my debtors.” she laughs, “More than half the town is in debt to me!”

Sakura narrows her eyes, and she slowly puts the paper away. She states,

“It’s a statement of debt? Do you sometimes write comments on the back?”

“Oh yes, conditions, additional statements, all sorts of things.”

Sakura stutters, “Including threats?! This one spoke of threats like sharpened katanas, trained warriors, and even the ‘debtor’s’ home address!”

The noble puts a hand to her forehead, then states, “What is the harm in reclaiming the property that is mine? I leant it out, and now I’m collecting!”

Sakura gasps, “You must know the conditions that your people live in! People can’t repay their debts for a variety of reasons! I’ve read books on how poverty affects your ability to-”

“Spare me your philosophy.” The noble smiles thinly, “My operation here is perfectly legal.”

Sakura glares into the pillows, her same anger rising up, but she can’t even justify it to herself. She feels a tear build-up on her face, and the noble coos dismissively,

“Aw, this must all be terribly stressful for a princess such as you!” She waves a hand, “Guards, take her on a tour to find her girlfriend!” Sakura can’t think of any law that’s being broken right here. The shopkeeper mentioned something about exorbitant hosting prices, and the number of guards is really, really suspicious, but Sakura just hasn’t done enough research yet! “Oh, and send my previous engagement back in.”

The guards approach Sakura, but she takes a step back, and a tiny smile grows on her face. She says, “Wait! Isn’t threatening-” she shakes her head, “No! Extortion is entirely illegal in Hoshido,  _ especially _ when it comes to their lives!”

Sakura puts her hands on her hips and wears a hard smile, not entirely pleased by this turn of events. The noble says,

“Guards, capture her.”

Sakura jumps. One guard turns around, the other grabs Sakura’s shoulder. She wrenches it out of his grasp, then opens her cloak to reveal a tiny yumi, a tankyu, and fires a normal-sized arrow into the guard’s arm. He screams, Sakura flinches, and sprints up the nearest flight of stairs. The noble screeches an alarm, but Sakura is already into a darkened corridor, sprinting as fast as she can. The other guard catches up, and lunges with his naginata. Sakura closes her eyes and reflexively looses three arrows in as many seconds. She runs around a corner to the tune of his pained moans.

 

\--

 

“And then we met up!” Sakura nods, “That’s pretty much all of it, but now  _ I _ have some questions for  _ you _ !”

“Ask away!”

Sakura puts a finger out, “That villager who scammed us, how were you such good friends with her?”

Elise nods, “Oh, yeah, apparently she had gone into some serious debt, and we were like, her last resort for finding the money on time.” she flinches, “Even then, I talked to the money-changers, and,” Elise practically shouts, “They wanted a  _ fifty _ percent cut! I got her out of there, blasted a hole in the wall, and bam! Met you!” Elise smiles, “Which was the best part of the night!”

Sakura stutters, “Th-thanks! I love you too!” she reaches out to hug Elise, “And that explains why you were so eager to install her as the new leader.”

“Yup!”

“Just to be safe, we should visit here again someday.”

Elise smirks, “Oh? Would you want to go on dates…” she draws away slightly, “ _ regularly _ ?”

Sakura bites her lip, “Y-yes! T-that’s embarrassing to say, though!”

Elise hums and presses herself into Sakura, “You were still so brave in there! I loved every moment with you!”

 

\--

Sakura sprints down some stairs, into a dirty, dark, but still lit level, and hears an explosion just in the next room. If this whole structure is going up in flames, Sakura needs to heal those most in need. She runs over to it, bow tucked under her left arm, and other arm searching for a healing rod. She turns the corner, and Elise is holding out a thunder tome, and escorting a familiar woman. Sakura shouts,

“Elise!”

“Sakura!”

Then, nearly simultaneously, they both say, “The Takimura estate is corru- really bad-”

Elise laughs, Sakura continues,

“It’s really corrupt! They’re illegally threatening people, and,” she pauses to take a long breath, “they just tried to kidnap me!”

Elise gasps, putting a hand over her mouth, “We’ve gotta beat them up now!”

Sakura shouts, “What?! I just ran  _ away _ from them! Are you saying we should just turn around?!”

Elise smiles, “No! I was talking to her,” she motions to the villager trailing behind her, nervously stepping over the ruined wall, “And apparently a lot of the guards are in debt to the Takimura estate too!”

Elise takes Sakura’s arm and guides her further into the building, “Uh, we were kinda running away from guards too, so let’s keep going!”

“Right!”

The villager takes the lead, guiding them through the winding corridor, while Elise keeps talking, “And, we’re both professional soldiers, you can take out a few guards, right? And I  _ totally _ crushed it right there,” she puts a hand to her chin, “if I do say so myself, so we were thinking that if we show them what we’re made out of, they’ll all surrender!”

“Let’s do it.” Sakura huffs and nods to Elise, who stops in her tracks, and lets out a weird noise.

“Oh? I thought you were gonna-”

Sakura glares into the ceiling, “No, the sooner we can tear this place down, the better!”

Elise gapes, and stiffly follows Sakura and the villager as they go up a flight of stairs to the main level. The villager suddenly hides behind Sakura and Elise, and a guard jumps around a blind corner. Sakura sticks two arrows in his legs, shouts ‘Sorry!’, then they move into the main foyer. Another guard appears from the nearby stairs, but when Elise raises her tome, she backs off and walks back up the stairs. Sakura shouts,

“Over here should be the main gathering area! Elise, use your lightning to cut us a path!”

“Got it!”

Elise fires a lightning bolt, which lights the sheets on fire and clears them away. Sakura charges through, bow raised, and Elise shouts,

“Guards, fix the fire!”

Then runs over to join her. Sakura is in the middle of a large, well-lit room, bow upraised, and multiple arrows sticking from some of the castle staff. She’s shouting,

“Break your chains! Join me in deposing the Takimura clan!” Sakura gazes at several of the guards in turn, “I know that she’s bound you in debt and threats, but today is your chance to go free!”

One of the uninjured guards says, meekly, “Can you guarantee that our debts will be forgiven?”

Sakura takes a deep breath, “Those debts were illegal anyway! Takimura is going to jail forever, and all her debts are null and void!”

The same guard says, “What are you going to do about the guards you shot full of holes?”

Sakura screeches, bow held high, “I’M A HEALER!!”

Elise apologizes to some of the guards Sakura shot, dispensing her own healing magic. The room is lively and full of chatter again, mostly specific questions to Sakura, and it seems like she’s being swamped in legalese. Every person she speaks to just makes her more angry and self-assured. Her hands are shaking, but her head is held high, and people are rallying around her. Elise has never been more proud of her girlfriend, and nearly tears up at the sight. She speaks to some of the fallen guards herself as she goes around healing them,

“Sorry about the arrows!”

The guard lets out a sob, “I could’ve taken a hundred arrows for the debts I pilled up.”

Elise nods, positioning the staff over the arrow wounds, then says, “Well, thankfully, there’s only one more arrow you  _ might _ need to watch out for.”

The guard flinches, “Oh?”

Elise smiles, “Cupid’s arrow! Love,” she tilts her head, “well, if you’re not aromantic, I suppose! Then you’ll have to worry about,” she makes circle with her hand, “Zero arrows in the future!”

They both laugh, and Elise moves onto her next patient. Eventually, they reconvene in the central room, and Sakura starts to speak again, this time much more haltingly,

“Okay, so we’re just going to, go in there, and arrest Takimura! You guys stay strong!”

The crowd is mostly inattentive, talking amongst themselves, but a dozen or so give Elise and Sakura a round of applause. Sakura guides them to Takimura’s chamber, and they hear talking inside. Sakura immediately jumps through with her yumi drawn, shouting, and Elise follows right behind.

The guards are gone, and Takimura herself jumps to her feet with the person she was dealing with. Sakura shouts,

“You’re under arrest! Consider your crime ring busted!”

Takimura makes some strangled noises, but complies. Elise looks at the other person,

“Oh, but you’re free to go! And now you won’t be in debt to Takimura!”

The rest of the evening proceeds with a short feast and party, but Elise notices that while she cavorts with the best of them, Sakura is dealing with the meat-and-potatoes of the whole ‘arresting a corrupt noble and redistributing all of their possessions’ thing. She’s writing letters to the capital, receiving reports and data from nearly everyone in this whole village, and formalizing the data so they can act on it. Elise makes sure to sneak her plenty of sweets in between, and it’s only late afternoon by the time they decide to leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh i have been up since four in the morning and i just wrote for like three solid hours


	7. Free

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wrap-up? Kinda?

“Oh, the sun’s totally gone!” Sakura stands up, “We should probably head back.”

“Hehe! If the sky knight’s already there, I’m sure everyone’s really worried!” Elise takes the blanket, and folds it up even though it’s still coated in snow. Sakura fidgets with her cloak,

“Gosh, I hope they aren’t too worried, I tried to phrase it so they wouldn’t think anything too bad happened.”

Elise laughs, “No sense in worrying about it now! Let’s get the cart and head back to the capital!”

“Hehe, yeah.” Sakura smiles, “I can’t wait to do this again with you.”

Elise takes her hand, and they make their way back to castle Shirasagi.

 

\--

 

Sakura sighs, “It’s so late. The entire day went by so fast.”

The afternoon sun is just beginning to touch the snow, sending streaks of red racing across the surrounding landscape. Elise starts,

“Oh! Sakura! We should go out and watch the sunset, too!”

“We still need to get oxen for the journey home-”

Elise grabs her hand, then whines, “ _ Please _ ? We’re gonna miss it if we don’t go soon!”

Sakura laughs, “Sure!”

They grab their blanket, and head out into the snow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! That was a long day! I finished pretty much all of chapter six today, after waking up at 4 in the morning for a band competition that my brother didn't even win, which actually made it so that I _could_ work on this in the first place! Yay, not winning! and this was after a whole series of weird inconveniences, like my own procrastination and refusal to follow my plot, the four tests i had in school, and a surprise football game that i really should've seen coming! Hope you liked this thrown-together pile of mulch!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, feel free to leave kudos or comments! :)  
> Especially comments about whether or not this narration style is actually helping!


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